I posted this photo yesterday on the “Lenten Views” webpage: and now I need to explain a little bit. Here’s the story.

Morgan is happily married to Jim, living in Madison, WI. They have 2 kids… (2-year old twins, the result of successful in-vitro over 2 years ago), and are in the process of adopting a girl from China. Their twins are a boy and a girl–Liam and Sydney. (remember, this is Cathy’s alter-ego, not Jim’s!) They can’t wait to travel to China to pick up their girl, and to visit the beautiful country of China.

Morgan is a minister with her husband… she finishes her sermons on Fridays, is never stressed about stuff at church, and is very good at handling stress. In fact, by some unexplained miracle, there seems to be enough time in each day to get everything done! Morgan teaches ESL to immigrants in Madison, and with people from church, she helps run a coffee-shop/after-school center on the corner of Todd Drive and the Beltline…

Photography is central to Morgan’s life, and occasionally she and her friend Jo Ann are hired (by ?) to travel around the world on assignment, photographing various cities and peoples of the world. They can take their families with the–all expenses paid, of course.

Morgan does not have fibromyalgia anymore, though she remembers it well enough that she is sympathetic to those who are in pain. Nor does Morgan have “non-narcolepsy”. She is only sleepy when she misses lots of sleep. Morgan’s ankle doesn’t hurt either, and actually, she’s quite the picture of health.

Morgan’s house is completely uncluttered… and everything has its home. Her friends live near-by… and if they don’t, Morgan is able to visit them frequently, or host them when they frequently visit. Morgan and Jim have 2 dogs–and they actually share one of them with friends who live next door… It’s a marvelous arrangement.

And as long as I’m dreaming, Morgan’s favorite sports team-the Chicago Cubs-won the World Series last year. And, Morgan plays ice hockey in a local league… and…

ok… so enough dreaming… (partly.)

This is actually a Land’s End Inlet towel. One of the advantages of living in Wisconsin is the Land’s End Inlets–kind of like an “outlet”, but called an “inlet”. And when you buy something there that is monogrammed, you get an extra 20% discount. Fun. And so we have towels and other items with fun monograms. So when I bought this towel, I joked that “Morgan” is my alter-ego. Ah… dream on…

The Lent Photos website is new and updated.. updated every night, actually. But the web gallery I was using couldn’t seem to figure out chronology. It was all quite strange and confusing. So, now, here’swhere you can check out the new photos each day, and see each photographer’s individual page… Check them out.

We’ve had retired missionary David Wood staying here for the past several nights. He and Rachel, his wife, were in the Congo/Zaire for many years. Even though I never met either of them until a couple of weeks ago, it’s been quite fun to swap Congo stories, to remember some scenes and other things about my birth country.

Adoption update: not sure. We’re now hoping for an early April referral, but we’ll see. Hopefully…

Last week I took a short/overnight trip to Chicago. It was an incredibly needed gift, of being with good friends, catching up, going downtown Chicago, etc. Incredibly needed, and incredibly good mental health break. I love Chicago.

As in… Madison’s snowfall in inches, this winter–so far. I’m not very popular with this statement, but…. I love it!!!! it’s about time we had a good winter like this. Ok, so, I’ll also be excited to see Spring, but I do love winter. 86.7..

Yep. Canceled. Last year, church was canceled, but we were up north for the Retreat, so didn’t feel the effects of that. So after consulting the other person who arrives early-at-church-each-week, and our church chair, we concurred that canceling was the best option. After that decision was made, it turned out that hundreds of churches have canceled. (scroll down to “Church”). In fact, just about anything in Madison, WI is canceled today–except for a grade school chess competition, apparently. (Sandie’s kids are in that, and last I heard, that had not been canceled!) It is so icy outside, and soon, apparently, it’s going to be turning to heavy snow. Woo hoo!! It’s a skating rink outside–and not an evenly-zambonied skating rink, either! I went outside and took some photos of our yard, driveway, etc. So… today will be a good day to hang out, watch TV, play with the dogs (inside!). Maybe even catch up on some housework. Ha. We’ll see.

The other day one of my favorite mugs fell when I bumped a side table. A little coffee spilled, and I was so upset… This mug is from Saskatchewan. A friend up in Prince Albert bought for me when I was on internship there (1995-1996). I think, if I remember correctly, that a few friends were going to Saskatoon for the day, and asked if I wanted to go. Which, of course, I wanted to… but I was probably working on sermon or something like that, so couldn’t go. But when my friend returned, she had bought this mug for me. I love it. I have always loved it… sigh.

So back to the other day. The mug fell. I screamed, and was distraught. Then relieved, as I realized it wasn’t broken. So I took a picture for the “Lenten Views” gallery, and titled the picture “Grace” because the mug was still intact.

Oops. I spoke too soon. It’s cracked. I was drinking coffee out of it this morning, and coffee was slowly dripping down my hand. I immediately thought of the best case scenario:

I just spilled some coffee on the side, when pouring it from the thermos. Or I set it down in a wet spot on the counter, by the sink, when pouring coffee. But no, it’s broken..

Bummer. Maybe not “Grace” after all. Maybe just a reminder that life happens–mugs break, light-bulbs burn out (this happened a few minutes after I realized my mug was broken today), and “some days are like that, even in Australia”. If I wanted to be all theological and spiritual, I could come up with some way that God is still present in the breaking-of-my-mug. And maybe God is. Probaby. But the fact is, my favorite mug is cracked. And it’s a sad thing.

Oh well. Life goes on. Monday’s here, with lots to do. Time to think about other thing, like Sunday’s bulletin and sermon.

Happy Chinese New Year… maybe this year has more than 11 months, I don’t know actually. I haven’t done that much research. What I do know is that the thought of getting our child in the year of the Rat doesn’t sound that appealing. the Rat.. really? Ok, so some have toned it down and said it’s the year of the “Mouse”. Cuter, in my opinion. But let’s call it what it is: a rat.

So here’s what I figure. First of all, rats aren’t so bad. I have friends who have pet rats.. and I have held these critters. Kind of cute in their own way. Then there’s Templeton, the rat in the book and movie “Charlotte’s Web”. I love this guy. So, rat’s aren’t so bad. Second, recent Chinese New Year animals included: pig, dog, rooster, monkey… I like all these animals. But let’s face it: none of these animals have served us well, in terms of adopting our child. So, the way I see it, though rats get a bad reputation, and though our daughter will hopefully have been born in the year of the pig (though it could have been dog or rooster..), the Year of the Rat just might pull through.

Check out the Lenten Views photo a day web gallery…. somewhere on there is my photo of Chinese New Year, at least here at our house. As well as great photos by other photographer friends.

Several people from Arbor Covenant Church are taking a different kind of Lenten challenge: a photo a day during Lent. We are not professional photographers. The photos will not necessarily be spiritual. It is merely a challenge to take a photo a day during this slow-down-season.

We’re posting them on this Mac Web Gallery, called “Lenten Views” … Enjoy. And if you’d like to participate, or post your photos on a different webpage, let me know.

In this slow-down season, it’s a bummer to have to miss Ash Wednesday. Our joint service with All Saints’ Lutheran was cancelled, due to weather. Most services and events in the Madison area have been cancelled… government offices were closed… even Madison schools were closed today! (a small miracle)

So, Happy Ash Wednesday… I miss the ashes, but am enjoying the forced slow-down due to weather.